Wednesday, July 12, 2006

So that's why Zidane did it!

After eating itself, Couchsurfing relaunches in record time with version 2

Couchsurfing.com, the online destination of thousands of travelers looking for a free couch to crash on, recently launched version 2.0. Couchsurfing suffered a major database failure on June 27th [http://www.digg.com/tech_news/CouchSurfing_Deletes_Itself,_Shuts_Down] and was forced to rebuild from the ground up.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

How to enable all extensions in Firefox 2.0

I just installed Firefox beta and it shows a great improvement on the Mac. This article shows you how to enable all your extensions for the beta (most extensions won't work yet) with minimal effort. Most of my extensions worked. I hope this 2.0 version is out of beta soon. It is well worth a go. Firefox 2.0 disables all extensions that are not mentioned as compatible with 2.0 by their authors. Most should work with 2.0 though and the website explains how to make them all work in firefox 2.0.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Firefox Beta 2.0 to be Released Tommorrow

Firefox 2.0 Beta 1 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) can be downloaded from Mozilla's FTP site, although the official Beta 1 won't be released until July 11, according to notes published by the open-source developer.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Current TV

After going to see the Al Gore movie this past weekend, I re-read an article about him in Wired magazine. What I forgot about Al, aside from the fact he created the Internet, is his project called Current TV. A cable network that is broadcast on some major cable providers, but not on my sweet (read sarcasm) Adelphia package. I heard about it when it launched, visited the web site, and pretty much forgot about it. Because of the Youtube.com and Google Video phenomenon that has been sweeping the internet, Current TV has been swept under the proverbial internet rug. The Wired article indicates a lackluster uptake on the TV channel, but I decided to give it another go.

From the little time I spent on the site (god forbid I do any research before I write), It appears that the great inventor of Internet has reinvented TV with "Viewer Generated" (I love catch phrases) content. Viewers can upload content, it is voted on, and if it meets the muster of the crowd (and some network guy I am sure) it hits the airwaves. The content is far from the backstreet boys lip-sync, every high school girl dance to "I am in love with a stripper", grainy less than 5 min piece of crap that is not worth the 1's and 0's it is written on. No from the few (yes I do massive research when I speak from authority) videos I have seen, the quality is that of PBS or the radio equivalent This American Life. I was impressed by the "digg.com", myspace.com social feeling of the site. It seems that you can "Green Light" (my emphasis for effect) videos to give it one more vote to hit the front page airwaves.

You can check it out for yourself online here or at the following cable stations:

Saturday, July 01, 2006

An Inconvenient Truth

Last night to escape the heat, I went to see Al gore'sAn Inconvenient Truth. Those who have not been reading the news lately or are a Republican hiding from the truth, An Inconvenient Truth is a documentary by Davis Guggenheim about Global Warming. The premiss is based on Gore's slide show presentation that he has been giving all over the world for years. It is a simple concept that he is trying to get across. If we do not do something about global warming, then the world as we know it may cease to exist. It is not a question of "if it will happen", it is a question of "when it will happen."

I was impressed with the film and it made me think how I can help solve this global issue. The films main point that I took home is that people go from denial about the issue to Despair, because it seems like an unstoppable problem, without stopping to analyze what we can do. I hope everyone that will see this movie will stop and think. I know an looking deeper into the issue, so that I can get a better understanding and ultimately be an informed citizen.